citydesk

Feds Shut Down Megaupload; Anonymous Shuts Down DOJ Site

Less than a day after a massive protest against SOPA and PIPA initiatives, the Feds shut down Megaupload, accusing the company of "costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue" by uploading and downloading music and films on its file-sharing website.

Megaupload went dark (or blank) Thursday afternoon.

Within minutes of the news of Megaupload going dark, Anonymous reportedly hacked and brought down a Department of Justice website, launching another salvo in the global war over copyrights and artistic freedoms.

Seven Megaupload employees, including CEO Kasseem Dean (who also happens to be Alicia Keyes' husband), were indicted on charges ranging from conspiracy to money laundering. Four of the employees were arrested in New Zealand, at the request of U.S. officials.

Before the Megaupload.com was taken down today (the company apparently knew this could happen), owners issued a statement:

"The fact is that the vast majority of Mega's Internet traffic is legitimate, and we are here to stay."

Anonymous, the worldwide activist hackers, wrote on its Twitter account:

"The government takes down Megaupload? 15 minutes later, Anonymous takes down government & record label sites."

A Justice Department spokesman did not confirm whether the agency had suffered a cyber attack, but justice.gov was not loading as of Thursday afternoon.